Sports Extra

Foreign or local coach? (Part II)

 

The bulk of expatriate coaches that took charge of the Flames over the years might have failed to achieve anything in terms of success compared to locals such as the late Henry Moyo, Kinnah Phiri, the late Reuben Malola and the late Matthias Mwenda, but still it does not mean that the Flames do not need an expatriate.

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) president Walter Nyamilandu recently told BBC Sport: “Modern football is becoming very scientific and we need people who will understand the game.

Was hired on short-term: Mtawali
Was hired on short-term: Mtawali

“We have tried and tested most of the coaches and the remaining ones won’t be good enough for us to find the right candidate.

“The job is very demanding and the expertise is very rare locally.”

The FAM president could have a point, but the challenge is that the Flames’ 2017 Africa Cup of Nations’ (Afcon) qualification campaign is already underway.

They lost their opening Group L game to the Warriors of Zimbabwe 1-2 at home and their next fixture is in September away to Swaziland against Sihlangu who registered a shock 2-1 away victory over Guinea’s  SylliNationale. The problem is that the Flames do not have a substantive coach as Ernest Mtawali was only hired for the July 6 Independence Anniversary Celebrations game against Uganda Cranes which Malawi won 1-0.

But while Nyamilandu and his crew might have a valid reason to priotise a foreign coach, the big question is whether they have enough time to carefully go through all the applications and then settle for a man whom the nation can trust and invest their confidence to guide the Flames in the continental campaign.

It is good to dream in colour and fancy the chance of bringing in world-class coaches in the mould of Pep Guardiola or Jose Mourinho.

But the challenge is that expatriate or foreign coaches need time to adjust to their new working environment and—before we know it—time would have elapsed and yet another campaign would have gone off the rails.

Yes, after a disappointing start, FAM is desperate for a good result against Swaziland that could revive Flames campaign, but they need to tread carefully as seasoned Blantyre Newspapers Limited (BNL) sports journalist PiliraniKachinziri, cautions: “There have been cases where big African teams, notably Cote d’ Ivoire, who hired former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson just a few weeks before the 2014 World Cup and as expected, the move came to naught.”

Some of the coaches are faced with communication or language barriers. Culture also proves to be a challenge and, by the time they master enough English words to realise that “come on” are not the only words in the Queen’s language, it would be too late and the campaign would be in turmoil.

The brutal truth is that not even Guardiola or Mourinho, under the circumstances, especially the time factor, can do anything special which the locals cannot do.

Rather than confuse the players and make them to start learning the tactics and preferred formations of the  new foreign coach, inside a month or so, it would help them to be under someone they know or who is already there and, crucially, who knows them well too—that man could be Mtawali who until recently was substantive coach or indeed others that have not been tried and tasted but have the potential. They include Patrick Mabedi, Franco Ndawa, Gerald Phiri Snr, Nicholas Mhango and Lloyd Nkhwazi.

Perhaps the ideal situation would be to extend Mtawali’s short-term contract. He might not have enough experience, but experience does not just come from the blues, does it?

He has the credentials to be considered as well. Under shoddy preparations he guided the Under-20 national team to the last qualification round of the Africa Youth Championship before being kicked out at the last hurdle by Zambia.

Crucially, he won both games that he was in charge of the senior national team—against Namibia (1-0) alongside Patrick Mabedi in a 2014 World Cup qualifier away in Windhoek. It was also the first time for the Flames to beat the Brave Warriors in a competitive match. Then he registered a 1-0 win against Uganda recently.

That is not all. He has two Uefa A licences obtained from England and German and enjoys the respect of players because of what he achieved during his 27-year playing career that saw him play in some of the world’s top leagues such as France (at Toulouse) and Argentina (at Newell’s Old Boys).

He also had a stint at the then top league English club Nottingham Forest where he signed alongside Roy Keane, but the deal was cancelled just a month later due to disagreements between his South American agents and his former club Mamelodi Sundowns over ownership. At these clubs he was trained by world-class coaches such as Brian Clough and Alain Giresse.

Herve Renard did wonders with Zambia and Cote d’ Ivore national teams, guiding them to Africa Cup of Nations’ triumphs in 2012 and 2015 respectively, but he had a bit of time to prepare the teams.

Interestingly, the record books show that the Flames have powered their way to finest moments when they were under local coaches. Save for the late Ted Powell and, to some extent, Wonder Moreira with due respect, all the other foreign coaches have been a disappointment.

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